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Funeral director licensing · Nevada
Nevada licenses funeral directors separately from embalmers and asks for no mortuary school: you first get a funeral arranger license by passing the Nevada laws exam, work 1 year as an arranger at a Nevada funeral home, then pass the Nevada laws exam plus either the Nevada State Board exam or the National Board Arts exam.
Nevada
The route without embalming · License: Funeral director
No degree or mortuary school required
1 year of active practice as a licensed funeral arranger in Nevada1 yr or more
Nevada laws exam (NVLRR), plus the Nevada State Board exam or the National Board Arts exam
None on this route
School. No education requirement. Neither the funeral director statute nor the funeral arranger statute asks for any degree or mortuary program, and the Board's requirement sheets list only age, good character, exams and (for directors) 1 year as an arranger.
Be over 18 (the statute's words for directors; the Board's sheet says at least 18) and of good moral character.
Get a funeral arranger license: pass the Nevada Laws, Rules and Regulations (NVLRR) exam and apply (the Board charges an exam authorization fee and an application fee). An arranger is someone employed by a funeral home or direct cremation facility who meets families to plan funerals.
Work 1 year in active practice as a funeral arranger in Nevada. There is no count of funerals or embalmings.
Pass the NVLRR exam and either the Nevada State Board exam or the National Board Exam (the NBE, the national licensing exam set by The Conference (the International Conference of Funeral Service Examining Boards), in two sections, Arts and Sciences; The Conference, National Board Exam) Arts section. No embalming (Sciences) exam is required.
Apply to the Board for the funeral director license and pay the application fee.
Yes. Every funeral home must employ, or keep on contract, a licensed embalmer, and must have a preparation room with access to embalming instruments and supplies. It must be managed by a licensed funeral director.
There is no separate endorsement route; you apply like anyone else. The 1-year arranger requirement may be waived if you have held a funeral director license in another state for at least 1 year. If you passed the National Board exam, you skip the parts of the Nevada exam it duplicates, but you still take the Nevada laws exam.
Only a licensed embalmer, or an apprentice under one, may inject preserving fluids or aspirate body cavities.
As a general rule, a funeral home must embalm or refrigerate a body (at 42°F or below) within 24 hours of receiving it, subject to the delays and removal periods NAC 451.015 allows. If a doctor, coroner or health officer directs it for a communicable-disease death, the funeral director must arrange for embalming by an authorized embalmer.
According to the Board, you must be a licensed funeral director to sign death certificates or manage a funeral home.
Rules change. Confirm the current licensing requirements with the board before you enroll.
General information, not legal advice. We read the law behind each point on 23 October 2026, and each point links to the text it comes from. All our sources.